Russian hockey star Alex Ovechkin made history when he overtook Wayne Gretzky as the National Hockey League’s (NHL) all-time goal scorer, but he also served up a win for the Kremlin’s propaganda machine.
In a congratulatory telegram posted on April 7 by the Kremlin, Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated the sports star, saying Ovechkin’s record-breaking goal “has become not only your personal success, but also a real celebration for fans in Russia and abroad.”
Putin is famously a fan of ice hockey. And his admiration for Ovechkin is mutual: The NHL star’s official Instagram page features a profile picture of the sportsman standing next to Putin.
But Ovechkin’s achievement -- his 895th NHL goal put him past Greztky's 894 -- is about more than national sporting pride. It comes at a moment when the Kremlin is seeking to project confidence in a high-stakes negotiation with Washington about a possible cease-fire in Ukraine.
Kirill Dmitriev, the Russian government’s emissary to Washington for Ukraine talks, posted a video on X of Ovechkin greeting fans after his record-breaking goal, with the hockey star saying, “For all the world, Russia…we did it boys, we did it! It’s history!”
Dmitriev had just wrapped a visit to the US as part of a bid to advance a series of negotiations to bring a halt to fighting in Ukraine, a trip he called “productive.” But he was also on something of a charm offensive, making appearances on CNN and Fox News to talk up the prospects for US-Russia relations.
“There is no question that President Trump team not only stopped World War III from happening, but also had already achieved sizeable progress on Ukraine resolution,” Dmitriev told Fox News’s Brett Baier.
SEE ALSO: Mr. Dmitriev Goes To Washington: What We Know About The Kremlin's Envoy And His DC MeetingsThe messaging is not so subtle: Dmitriev and others are pushing the narrative that the United States and Russia are natural allies, at the same time that the Europeans are shoring up support for Ukraine.
For instance, both Dmitriev and Russian media boss Margarita Simonyan approvingly posted a clip of American movie director Oliver Stone, who told Fox News that he applauded the Trump administration for parting ways with what he called “vituperative dialogue” around Russia.
“The whole thing with hating Russia is so negative, it’s so un-American,” he said.
“They are potentially our best partners, as are the Chinese, actually. That’s all been inculcated by propaganda.”
It’s hard to square the messages of US-Russian friendship (complete with flag emojis) with Russia’s continuing bombardment of Ukraine, particularly following a weekend of particularly lethal strikes on civilian areas of Kryviy Rih and Kyiv.
SEE ALSO: Ukraine Mourns Children Killed In Deadly Russian Attack On Zelenskyy's Home TownOn the same day Ovechkin scored the record-breaking goal, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry posted a somber note about the number of Ukrainian athletes who have been killed in Russia’s war on Ukraine.
“As of March 2025, 591 Ukrainian athletes and coaches have been killed by Russia, 22 are held in captivity, and 11 are missing,” the statement read. “725 sports facilities have been damaged or destroyed by Russian attacks, including 17 Olympic, Paralympic, and Deaflympic training bases. For decades, Russia has been using sport for propaganda. 10 out of 15 Russian athletes who competed under a neutral flag at the 2024 Olympics in Paris either publicly supported the war or were affiliated with the military. Russian sport is not separate from the state -– it is one of the tools used to justify and promote aggression. Those who say sport should be outside politics must also acknowledge that Russia uses sport as a political weapon.”
Sport is definitely an element of Russia’s soft power in the ongoing diplomatic dance between Washington and Moscow.
Following a phone call between Putin and Trump last month, the Kremlin readout said the US president "supported Vladimir Putin's idea to organize hockey matches in the United States and Russia between Russian and American players playing in the NHL and KHL,” a reference to the top Russian hockey league, the Kontinental Hockey League.
Russia has been banned from international ice hockey tournaments since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. That ban remains. But Ovechkin’s headline-grabbing goal may have further cracked open Moscow’s window for diplomatic engagement with Washington.